Date: 27/03/2004
Source: Department of Labour
Title: M Mdladlana: Launch of Letsema Project in the Banking Sector
KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY THE HONOURABLE MINISTER OF LABOUR, MEMBATHISI MDLADLANA, MP, LAUNCH OF LETSEMA PROJECT IN THE BANKING SECTOR, 27 March 2004
Members of the BANKSETA Council, the BANKSETA team, banking sector representatives, representatives of the Banking Council, provider representatives, parents and learners, ladies and gentlemen, it is with great pleasure that I address you here today at this Launch of the Letsema programme: "Developing People Together". Letsema is a wonderful example of "A People's Contract" at work - as it is a working, hands-on, sleeves rolled-up kind of partnership between my Department, the BANKSETA, the banking sector and a range of service providers who have come together to make this event possible for the learners and parents gathered here today. This stands as a testimony to what can be achieved when we work together to create opportunities to improve the lives of our people.
Of course this willingness to work together did not arise without work. It has taken us years, indeed Ten Years, to build the institutions, the financial arrangements, the programmes and then the will to negotiate a set of agreements that could create the conditions for what we see here today. We must not take these conditions for granted, and we must not under-estimate the value of what we have built together. It would have been so easy to remain locked in our different corners, with our boxing gloves raised high - ever ready for combat. Instead today we stand witness to the launch of a programme which brings us all together - each with our separate roles to play - a programme which is designed to simultaneously advance equity and productivity in this critical sector, and which is providing young people with the support they need to realise their hopes and dreams for a better life. And let us not take for granted the fact that these very opportunities are being provided by folk in the banking sector whose predecessors may well have been forced to keep such youngsters out. It really is a microcosm of what is possible in this miraculous country of ours!
I would like us to acknowledge the contribution made by the President's Growth and Development Summit, held in June last year, where we all signed an agreement to build enduring partnerships, informed by our shared vision, which promotes participation and collaborative action. That Summit, I believe, has helped us all to accelerate our delivery and strengthen our determination and launches us into the next decade of democracy with the collaborative spirit which bodes so well for our future success.
And of course, the Finance Charter has also been central. This Charter has 'turbo boosted' a range of interventions intended to support government's Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment agenda in this sector. Indeed the learnership initiative we are celebrating today is directly linked to this broader goal - and not only at the front end! At the end of the programme graduates of this learnership initiative will certainly be well equipped to compete for full time employment into an increasingly representative banking sector. Indeed I wish to salute the banking sector for demonstrating its commitment not only to the letter but also to the spirit of that pivotal agreement.
Let me now locate all this work within the framework of the learnership campaign. In 2001 I launched the first ever South African National Skills Development Strategy, in which we set ourselves the target of 80 000 young unemployed people being assisted into learnerships. Let me take a minute to remind us all why we set this as a target. Whilst I am happy to note that the Statistician General has just reported a drop in the number of people reported as unemployed in terms of the official definition, nevertheless, we all agree that unemployment remains a critical problem in our country. And I am sure that we all by now know that of those who are unemployed, more than seven out of every ten unemployed people are young. This is an enormous problem - most importantly because of the waste of the human potential involved. But there is also the problem that if so large a proportion of those who must take our democracy forward, are excluded so early from its fruits, there is a real danger that all our efforts will flounder. And should this happen business would find that the environment for business would deteriorate.
At the time I launched the Strategy I was all too aware that there was a general concern from the private sector that we should not require them to do things which are 'not their core business' - their core business being to make business. It was in appreciation of this fact that we introduced a set of grants and tax breaks to compensate employers for the extra effort they are being asked to make when contributing to the solution to this problem. So now we are in a position where employers are being paid to open up their workplaces to young people, to enable them to acquire the skills and knowledge they need to become employable or to lay the basis for self-employment. This is not to take anything away from the contribution of the banks who have accepted young people - the point is simply that government too has played its part.
Over and above the policy and funding regulations, it is important to note that nearly R450 million has been committed from the National Skills Fund to top up grant money from SETAs to ensure that more learners can be recruited into learnerships. And let me add that of this total amount, R20 million has been invested in this Letsema initiative for the period leading up to March 2005.
Our target of 80 000 is for March 2005. So how well are we doing? After the first year, by March 2002, we had achieved an early target of 3203 learners in learnerships, and by the end of the second year by March 2003, we had achieved 26 035. Sceptics were saying that we were still too far off to achieve our targets - but I am happy to report that by the end of December last year, the number had already more than doubled to close on 55 000 - a mere 18 000-odd short of the May GDS target of 72 000 and in reach of our 80 000 target. At the current rate of increase, we will indeed meet our targets - showing conclusively what we can do together.
I am told that this sector has committed itself to bringing 5000 new entrants into the labour market over 3 years - and today we are seeing the first 800 learners commence their programmes. This is an exciting contribution to our overall efforts, and I would like to salute the BANKSETA and the banking sector at large.
To the learners gathered here today, my challenge to you is that you are being afforded a wonderful opportunity - an opportunity which thousands of others would love to have - I trust that you will grasp it and that you will do everything in your power to ensure your own success.
To the banks that have prepared their workplaces for the Letsema learners, thank you for your willingness to take this bold and committed step.
To the service providers, you have a critical role to play; I trust that you will meet the trust that is being placed in you.
It is very important for me, as I am sure that it is equally important for the BANKSETA and other banking sector partners, that these learnerships are successful. Critical to this success in addition to the effort of the learners, will be the support that we give to them. The parents and guardians sitting here today, as well as the employers, mentors, trainers, assessors and all other role-players will be of utmost importance - and we are depending on you to meet this challenge.
In conclusion, let me thank the BANKSETA and the National Skills Fund for providing the funding for a project of this scale. I congratulate the BANKSETA for creating an enabling environment that has made this initiative possible. Keep up the good work. Let the media take note that this is evidence that indeed the SETAs are working, and here is an example of one that is working extremely well. I am particularly delighted with the strong partnership between the SETA and the sector - where the SETA is serving a broader sectoral goal. This is just as it ought to be.
In 1955 at Kliptown, the Freedom Charter was born. This was a shared vision and a people's contract to build a non-racial and prosperous South Africa with everyone able to enjoy its fruits. Part of this contract was that "The doors of learning shall be open to all". I am happy to see yet another door being opened today.
My congratulations to BANKSETA and the banking sector for this initiative and may all your progressive plans be successful now and in the future.
Issued by: Department of Labour
27 February 2004
Source: Department of Labour
Title: M Mdladlana: Launch of Letsema Project in the Banking Sector
KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY THE HONOURABLE MINISTER OF LABOUR, MEMBATHISI MDLADLANA, MP, LAUNCH OF LETSEMA PROJECT IN THE BANKING SECTOR, 27 March 2004
Members of the BANKSETA Council, the BANKSETA team, banking sector representatives, representatives of the Banking Council, provider representatives, parents and learners, ladies and gentlemen, it is with great pleasure that I address you here today at this Launch of the Letsema programme: "Developing People Together". Letsema is a wonderful example of "A People's Contract" at work - as it is a working, hands-on, sleeves rolled-up kind of partnership between my Department, the BANKSETA, the banking sector and a range of service providers who have come together to make this event possible for the learners and parents gathered here today. This stands as a testimony to what can be achieved when we work together to create opportunities to improve the lives of our people.
Of course this willingness to work together did not arise without work. It has taken us years, indeed Ten Years, to build the institutions, the financial arrangements, the programmes and then the will to negotiate a set of agreements that could create the conditions for what we see here today. We must not take these conditions for granted, and we must not under-estimate the value of what we have built together. It would have been so easy to remain locked in our different corners, with our boxing gloves raised high - ever ready for combat. Instead today we stand witness to the launch of a programme which brings us all together - each with our separate roles to play - a programme which is designed to simultaneously advance equity and productivity in this critical sector, and which is providing young people with the support they need to realise their hopes and dreams for a better life. And let us not take for granted the fact that these very opportunities are being provided by folk in the banking sector whose predecessors may well have been forced to keep such youngsters out. It really is a microcosm of what is possible in this miraculous country of ours!
I would like us to acknowledge the contribution made by the President's Growth and Development Summit, held in June last year, where we all signed an agreement to build enduring partnerships, informed by our shared vision, which promotes participation and collaborative action. That Summit, I believe, has helped us all to accelerate our delivery and strengthen our determination and launches us into the next decade of democracy with the collaborative spirit which bodes so well for our future success.
And of course, the Finance Charter has also been central. This Charter has 'turbo boosted' a range of interventions intended to support government's Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment agenda in this sector. Indeed the learnership initiative we are celebrating today is directly linked to this broader goal - and not only at the front end! At the end of the programme graduates of this learnership initiative will certainly be well equipped to compete for full time employment into an increasingly representative banking sector. Indeed I wish to salute the banking sector for demonstrating its commitment not only to the letter but also to the spirit of that pivotal agreement.
Let me now locate all this work within the framework of the learnership campaign. In 2001 I launched the first ever South African National Skills Development Strategy, in which we set ourselves the target of 80 000 young unemployed people being assisted into learnerships. Let me take a minute to remind us all why we set this as a target. Whilst I am happy to note that the Statistician General has just reported a drop in the number of people reported as unemployed in terms of the official definition, nevertheless, we all agree that unemployment remains a critical problem in our country. And I am sure that we all by now know that of those who are unemployed, more than seven out of every ten unemployed people are young. This is an enormous problem - most importantly because of the waste of the human potential involved. But there is also the problem that if so large a proportion of those who must take our democracy forward, are excluded so early from its fruits, there is a real danger that all our efforts will flounder. And should this happen business would find that the environment for business would deteriorate.
At the time I launched the Strategy I was all too aware that there was a general concern from the private sector that we should not require them to do things which are 'not their core business' - their core business being to make business. It was in appreciation of this fact that we introduced a set of grants and tax breaks to compensate employers for the extra effort they are being asked to make when contributing to the solution to this problem. So now we are in a position where employers are being paid to open up their workplaces to young people, to enable them to acquire the skills and knowledge they need to become employable or to lay the basis for self-employment. This is not to take anything away from the contribution of the banks who have accepted young people - the point is simply that government too has played its part.
Over and above the policy and funding regulations, it is important to note that nearly R450 million has been committed from the National Skills Fund to top up grant money from SETAs to ensure that more learners can be recruited into learnerships. And let me add that of this total amount, R20 million has been invested in this Letsema initiative for the period leading up to March 2005.
Our target of 80 000 is for March 2005. So how well are we doing? After the first year, by March 2002, we had achieved an early target of 3203 learners in learnerships, and by the end of the second year by March 2003, we had achieved 26 035. Sceptics were saying that we were still too far off to achieve our targets - but I am happy to report that by the end of December last year, the number had already more than doubled to close on 55 000 - a mere 18 000-odd short of the May GDS target of 72 000 and in reach of our 80 000 target. At the current rate of increase, we will indeed meet our targets - showing conclusively what we can do together.
I am told that this sector has committed itself to bringing 5000 new entrants into the labour market over 3 years - and today we are seeing the first 800 learners commence their programmes. This is an exciting contribution to our overall efforts, and I would like to salute the BANKSETA and the banking sector at large.
To the learners gathered here today, my challenge to you is that you are being afforded a wonderful opportunity - an opportunity which thousands of others would love to have - I trust that you will grasp it and that you will do everything in your power to ensure your own success.
To the banks that have prepared their workplaces for the Letsema learners, thank you for your willingness to take this bold and committed step.
To the service providers, you have a critical role to play; I trust that you will meet the trust that is being placed in you.
It is very important for me, as I am sure that it is equally important for the BANKSETA and other banking sector partners, that these learnerships are successful. Critical to this success in addition to the effort of the learners, will be the support that we give to them. The parents and guardians sitting here today, as well as the employers, mentors, trainers, assessors and all other role-players will be of utmost importance - and we are depending on you to meet this challenge.
In conclusion, let me thank the BANKSETA and the National Skills Fund for providing the funding for a project of this scale. I congratulate the BANKSETA for creating an enabling environment that has made this initiative possible. Keep up the good work. Let the media take note that this is evidence that indeed the SETAs are working, and here is an example of one that is working extremely well. I am particularly delighted with the strong partnership between the SETA and the sector - where the SETA is serving a broader sectoral goal. This is just as it ought to be.
In 1955 at Kliptown, the Freedom Charter was born. This was a shared vision and a people's contract to build a non-racial and prosperous South Africa with everyone able to enjoy its fruits. Part of this contract was that "The doors of learning shall be open to all". I am happy to see yet another door being opened today.
My congratulations to BANKSETA and the banking sector for this initiative and may all your progressive plans be successful now and in the future.
Issued by: Department of Labour
27 February 2004
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